A Charmed Liar
by ImaginaryGirlxx
Summary: Following the death of her sister Prue, Piper moved to Rosewood to start a new life and leave her demon-filled past behind. Now, sixteen years later, she finds herself on the brink of being exposed as a witch by the mysterious 'A'. Can she keep her secret and at what cost?
1. Chapter 1

**Hi guys :) new story time! *gives out cookies to lovely readers in hope that they ignore the fact that the timeline doesn't work***

**Disclaimer: I don't own Charmed ot PLL. I do own a broomstick! *flies off into the night* :)**

Ella Montgomery sighed as she looked around the room at all the boxes that needed to be unpacked. It was at times like this that she longed for her sister Prue's power of telekinesis. At least that way the task ahead of her would go a lot quicker and she could get settled back into her normal life. She scoffed internally at the word 'normal'. Even after moving away from the manor and starting her own mortal family she was first and foremost a witch and that was anything but normal in her opinion.

After Prue died, Piper had drifted apart from her sister Phoebe and eventually they agreed to sell the manor and go their separate ways. They still saw each other a couple of times a year to catch up and Phoebe had even met the Montgomery family once or twice but without their older sister and the power of three to keep them together they didn't have much else in common.

She had bound Aria's powers at birth so that she wouldn't have to learn the horrors and tragedy that came hand in hand with a destiny to kill demons but she'd kept her own powers for protection. Even now, almost twenty years later, she still came across the occasional demon that she had to vanquish.

Out of nowhere white lights appeared in front of her, snapping her out of her train of thought. Suddenly she was standing face to face with her ex husband, who looked exactly the same as he had done when she said her very tearful and apologetic goodbye to him.

"Leo!" She hissed. "What are you doing here? My daughter is in the next room and my husband is downstairs. You can't just orb in like that!"

"I'm sorry, Piper, ok? As long as you're a witch I'm still your Whitelighter and I need to tell you something important."

"Keep your voice down." Ella warned him.

"Sorry. Listen, the Elders have heard whispers that there might be a chance to get the power of three back. They sent me here to tell you."

"What do you mean? You can bring Prue back?"

"Not exactly." Leo said sadly, watching his expression drop after the momentary glimmer of hope he'd given her. "They think that your mother may have had another daughter with her Whitelighter."

"What?" Ella exclaimed.

"Her name is Paige Matthews. She's a social worker in San Fransisco. I can take you to her now if you want."

Unable to believe what she was hearing, Ella froze Leo to give herself some time to process the news.

She had another sister? Well technically half-sister. How did she not know about this? How had her mother hidden a pregnancy from them as children? And that wasn't even touching upon the topic of how to deal with the possibility that the power of three could be formed again. It didn't feel right without Prue. How could it? Not to mention the fact that life as a Charmed one usually resulted in demons coming after her and her loved ones every other week. Once they found out that the power of three was back they'd do everything they could to destroy it, just like they had done the last time. Ella couldn't cope with that again. What would happen if Byron or her children got hurt?

Sighing, she unfroze Leo. "No, Leo. You don't understand. I have a family of my own now. I can't go back to fighting demons all the time. I can't go back to that life." She told him. Her mind flashed to her other sister. "What did Phoebe say?"

"I haven't told her yet. I came to you first but I'm on my way to New York now to see her."

"I need time to think about this. Being one of the Charmed ones became a full time job and I'm not sure if I can give up this life for that one again."

"I'll let you know what Phoebe says. Maybe that will help to make up your mind."

From behind her Ella heard a knock on the door. "Mom." Aria's voice called out. "Who are you talking to."

"Shit." Ella muttered under her breath. "Go now." She told Leo, who orbed out of her room as quickly as he had entered it. Her mind still reeling from the news she'd just heard, Ella turned around and opened the door to see her teenage daughter standing on the other side. "I was just talking to myself sweetie. Trying to decide where to put all this stuff. Did we always have this much junk?"

"Well you never like to throw anything away." Aria reminded her with a smirk.

"Yes a little trait I picked up from my Grams. She was a great woman, despite all her annoying traits. It's a shame you never got to meet her. You two would've gotten along like a house on fire." Ella smiled.

She looked over to her phone that had just vibrated on her dresser to alert her to a text message. Leo couldn't have told Phoebe that quickly, could he? She got up from her bed and walked over to it to read the message.

_A witch, you say? Well this is going to be a lot of fun. Kisses. – A_

She could tell the colour had drained from her face and her fear was clear as day from the worried look that her daughter was giving her.

"What's wrong mom?" Aria asked.

"Oh, it's nothing." Ella replied as she tried to compose herself. "Can you go and ask your father to start dinner please? All this unpacking is making me hungry."

"Sure." She said as she left the room, closing the door behind her.

Ella sighed as she sat back on the bed. Who was this 'A' person? How did they find out she was a witch? She hadn't performed any magic in over a month until five minutes ago when Leo appeared. Does that mean they were in the house? In her bedroom? Watching her and her family? Where they even human?

Suddenly the room started to spin around her and she collapsed back onto her bed, the overload of emotions over the past few minutes getting the better of her as she lost consciousness.

**A/N: I'd love to hear if you think this is worth continuing :) xxx**


	2. Chapter 2

When Ella didn't come down for dinner the third time Byron shouted up at her he started to get worried. He rushed upstairs to their room to find his wife lying unconscious on their bed. Lightly, he shook her shoulders, trying to get a response from her whilst calling her name. Her eyes slowly opened and a wave of relief washed over him.

Ella could feel someone trying to pull her back into consciousness. She felt the strong loving hands gripping her shoulders and tried to open her eyes. A blurred figure of a man came into her vision.

"Leo." She mumbled. "Leo."

"Ella, honey, it's Byron. What happened?"

Bryon? Ella questioned for a moment while her drowsy brain tried to make a connection. It took her a few seconds to realise that it was her husband who had awoken her. Why did she think of Leo first? She brushed the thought off quickly, putting it down to the fact that she'd seen him only a few minutes ago and the big news he'd brought was still on her mind.

Slowly, she started to sit up. Bryon was looking at her expectantly. She vaguely remembered him asking her what had happened and tried to formulate the best answer she could.

"I guess it was just low blood sugar." She lied. "I haven't eaten much today."

"Well it's a good thing I've got dinner ready on the table then." He said, helping her to get up off the bed. "You really scared me there Ella."

"It's nothing." She insisted.

"Maybe we should take you to see a doctor."

"I said it was nothing." Ella said firmly. "Please stop fussing. I'm fine now."

Bryon didn't look convinced but he dropped the subject nonetheless, choosing to ask her about something else that had been playing on his mind.

"Aria said you looked really scared when you read a text message earlier. Was it from your ex husband? Is that why you said his name?"

Ella nodded, grateful that he'd come up with his own explanation for her behaviour that she could use. There was no way in Hell she'd tell him the real reason behind her fear. _Well, I should know,_ she mused, _I've been there._ Drawing her thoughts away from all the times she'd visited the underworld whilst demon-hunting, she explained to Byron what had happened, leaving out some crucial details so as not to expose herself as a witch.

"The text was from Leo." She confirmed. "He said he wanted to see me again and that he'd found this woman who he thinks is my half-sister."

"And you believe him?" Byron asked.

"Stranger things have happened." She replied before walking off to the dining room, making it clear that she wanted the subject to be dropped.

After dinner, Ella went upstairs to check her cell phone for any messages from Phoebe regarding Paige or Leo. As she had expected, her sister had sent her a text with the simple message '_Call me._' Ella locked her bedroom door so as not to be disturbed and called her younger sister. Unsurprisingly, Phoebe picked up on the second ring. She had obviously been waiting for her to call and talk about what had happened.

"_Piper! How've you been?" _She asked cheerfully._ "When are you getting back from Iceland?"_

"We just got back this morning." Ella replied.

"_Did you have a good time?"_

"Yeah, although it's strange being back now. Aria's still struggling with her friend's disappearance."

"_I don't blame her."_ Phoebe said sadly before changing the subject. _"Leo said he'd been to see you about the girl called Paige?"_

"Yeah. Do you think it's true? Do you think we have another sister?" Ella asked.

"_Well the Elders seem to think it is. As much as you might not like them, they're usually right."_

"Do you want to meet her?"

"_I think so. I mean, wouldn't it be great to have another sister and get the power of three back?"_

"I guess." She admitted, despite her uncertainties.

"_You don't sound convinced."_ Phoebe replied.

"Wow, that psych major really paid off." Ella teased her. She could almost see her sister poking her tongue out at her childishly. "I'm just not sure I'm ready to go back to that life again. What if something happens and my family get hurt? Besides, it doesn't feel right to have the power of three without Prue."

"_I know what you mean."_ Phoebe assured her. _"But isn't it worth giving Paige a chance? If not as a Charmed one then as a sister?"_

"Yeah I suppose that can't hurt. If she wants to, that is. Do you want to let Leo know? I can't risk Byron or the kids catching him orbing in or something."

"_Yeah sure. I'll text you when I know what we're going to do. Bye Piper."_ Phoebe said before hanging up.

She put her phone in the pocket of her jeans and walked back downstairs in hope of spending a couple of hours relaxing with Byron in front of the television to take her mind off everything that had happened in the half a day that she'd been home.

Byron was looking through one of the dozens of boxes still to be unpacked when she got downstairs.

"What are you looking for?" She asked him.

"Wine glasses."

Ella walked over to a stack of boxes on the other side of the room and started searching for the glasses as well. Finding them in the second box that she looked in, she picked up two of them and turned around to face her husband.

"Found them." She smiled.

"I think you're happy to be back." Byron said as he poured them both a glass of red wine and sat down on the sofa.

"Aren't you?" Ella asked.

"I haven't decided yet. I felt like we really bonded while we were away. I don't want to lose that."

"Are you really worried that we will?"

"It's just easy for stuff to get in the way." Byron said, taking a sip from his glass.

Ella sighed. She knew exactly how that felt. Being in Iceland had been like a vacation from everything she wanted to escape from: magic and demons, constant reminders of Alison's disappearance, the tension and distance that had started to appear between her and Byron. Somehow that all seemed to vanish while they were away and now it was coming back and hitting her at full force.

Leo's reappearance had definitely sparked up some old and unwelcome feelings for him; feelings that she knew she had to repress for the sake of her family and her marriage. However, she couldn't help but get the feeling that there was something that Byron was keeping from her and it was making her uneasy.

She first started noticing it about a month before they moved away and now she was starting to remember why. He was acting like he was guilty of something and lying to her but she couldn't quite put her finger on why she felt like this. After talking to Phoebe about it when she first started to notice something was up, she'd brushed it off as paranoia from years of demon hunting and falling for the wrong guy all the time. Demon, ghost, Whitelighter. She didn't exactly have the best track record.

Besides, she figured, it's not as if she had been completely honest throughout their marriage. There was the small matter of her powers, the powers that had been passed down to their daughter, which she was yet to bring up with him.

A sudden ring from her pocket pulled her out of her train of thought as it indicated that she'd received a text. Thinking that it would be from Phoebe, she pulled out her phone and read the message.

_You're a smart witch, I'm sure. Remember if you tell then so will I. –A_

"Who's it from?" Byron asked.

"Phoebe." Ella lied. "She wants to meet up again soon." She figured that Phoebe would text her sooner or later anyway so it would be easy to say the texts were from her.

"Oh that's great. It would be nice to see her again." Byron commented politely. He'd only ever met his sister-in-law a couple of times and wasn't really bothered that they didn't see more of each other. He wouldn't have minded getting to know his wife's family a little better but she rarely brought them up in conversation so he didn't press her about it. All he knew is that her mother had died when Ella was young and she'd recently lost her sister Prue when they met.

Ella, on the other hand, was freaking out. Seriously, who was 'A'? Were they going to keep sending her texts threatening to expose her as a witch? Her family couldn't know. They couldn't. She'd worked so hard to keep them out of it and in the dark for their own safety that she couldn't let one person ruin it for her. What would Byron say if he found out? What about Aria and Mike? Would Aria want her powers? Could she even handle them if she got them?

Byron wrapped his arm around Ella and pulled her closer to him, his touch instantly calming her down. She decided to change the subject in hope that he hadn't noticed her worried silence.

"I drove past Alison's house today. That's definitely something I haven't missed." She said sadly.

"A year later. Can you imagine what that poor family is going through?"

"I can't. I don't ever want to imagine. If anything ever happened to you or..." Ella started before Byron cut her off.

"Nothing is going to happen." He assured her, although his words brought little comfort. "We're safe. We're together. We're home."

_That's easy for you to say_, Ella thought, _you didn't spend three years of your life with demons, warlocks and the Source of all freaking evil trying to kill you_. She sighed. If anything at all happened to her family, especially as a result of her past, she didn't know if she could handle it. She'd barely survived after Prue's death and the thought of her family going through all that pain if something bad happened made her terrified.

Ella envied Byron's ignorance to the danger that she was in, especially now that the Underworld might know about Paige and the risk of the power of three reforming. She longed for the simple mortal life that everyone else in Rosewood had grown up with. Now, with the added threat of 'A', she would almost be willing to ask a genie for it. _Almost._ No matter what the circumstances, she would never be so desperate as to risk the consequences of dealing with a genie. They'd learnt that lesson the hard way.

Just then her phone vibrated again. Phoebe had sent her a text saying that Leo was going to orb her to Rosewood tomorrow, hopefully with Paige depending on how well Leo was able to convince her to come.

Unable to hide her exhaustion from the busy day she'd had any longer, Ella excused herself and decided to go to sleep early. Besides, she was going to need it to prepare for the possibility of meeting Paige tomorrow.


	3. Chapter 3

Unsurprisingly, Ella's night was plagued by nightmares. She dreamt about Prue's death, something she'd not had nightmares about in years, and about Byron walking in on her and Leo together. It took her a while to realise that she'd been dreaming when she woke up but was soon comforted by the sight of her husband's sleeping form under the duvet.

Looking at her alarm clock, she saw that it was 6am. She figured that there was no point in trying to go back to sleep again, considering she had to be awake in an hour. Everyone else in the house was asleep and she decided that it would be the perfect time to do something she'd wanted to do for a while: speak to her mother and her Grams.

She slipped quietly out of bed, so as not to wake Byron, and made her way to the attic where she set up a circle of five candles and lit each one in turn.

"Hear these words, hear my cry

Spirit from the other side

Come to me, I summon thee

Cross now the Great Divide."

Ella took a step back and waited for them to appear. As if from nowhere, two lights came from within the circle that soon became transparent figures of Penny and Patricia Halliwell. The two women stepped out of the circle of candles, becoming solid and immediately enveloping Ella in a hug.

"Piper, dear. It's been too long." Patty commented.

"Mom." Ella smiled. "I've missed you so much."

"We've missed you too." Penny said. "Now why did you summon us? I thought you were still going through this ridiculous 'no magic' phase."

Ella sighed. Her Grams was being as tactful as ever. She'd never agreed with Piper when it came to keeping magic a secret from her new family and was still cross with her and Phoebe for moving out of the manor. Despite her tough front, however, it was clear that Penny loved her granddaughters dearly and only wanted them to be happy in life.

"I had a visit from Leo yesterday. He told me about Paige."

"Paige?" Her mother questioned.

"Your other daughter." Ella scoffed slightly, unable to believe that her mother was still denying it.

"Oh, Paige is a lovely name, Patty." Penny smiled. Ella's confused expression prompted her to explain her comment further. "We never knew what she was called. Your mother only requested that her name began with a P."

"Why didn't we know about her? Why did you give her up for adoption?"

"Well it's a long story." Patty sighed. She sat down on the couch and explained to Ella how she'd hidden the pregnancy for fear of what the Elders might do if they ever found out she'd had a child with her Whitelighter.

Once she'd finished telling the story of Paige's birth and adoption through the church, Ella explained how they'd planned to meet her later that day if she was up for it.

"You know, I'd love to meet your children, Piper." Penny said a while later.

"We both know why you can't do that, Grams. They know you're dead. How am I meant to explain that you're just popping round for dinner one day?"

"You could always tell them the truth."

"I've told you I'm not going to bring them in to this. The world of magic is dangerous and they've been through enough already."

"Getting the Charmed ones back together will put them in danger anyway." Penny argued.

"We don't even know if that's going to happen yet."

"Don't lie to yourself, Piper. It never did anyone any good. We both know you'll need the power of three once demons find out about Paige. Don't leave yourself unprotected for too long."

Unbeknownst to them, Aria had woken up earlier than usual and followed the sound of voices in the attic. Who was in there with her mom? Why were they talking about magic and demons as if they were real? Mom didn't believe in that stuff, did she?

Slowly, she opened the door to see Ella sitting on the couch with two women who looked vaguely familiar.

"Mom?" She questioned. "Who are they?"

"Aria!" Ella exclaimed, taking a few seconds to recover from the shock of seeing her daughter there. "Go downstairs honey. I'll explain everything later."

"Don't be ridiculous, Piper. Let her come in. You might need our help to explain this." Penny said.

"Your Grams is right." Patty commented.

"Grams?" Aria asked, shocked. "But I thought she was…" She trailed off.

"Dead?" Penny asked. "Oh I am, dear."

"But then how are you here? And who's Piper?"

"I am." Ella said.

"Mom?"

"Yeah. Come and sit down and I'll explain everything."

"About time." Penny remarked.

"Mother." Patty scolded. "Now isn't the best time to be making snide comments."

"I was just saying…"

"Well don't." Ella snapped. "I think it's probably a good idea that you both leave. I'll talk to you later when I get back from work and seeing Phoebe."

Reluctantly, they said goodbye to Ella and Aria, both women giving them a small smile as they entered the circle of candles and disappeared.

Aria watched in shock at the scene that had just unfolded in front of her. She was still stood by the doorway, having ignored her mother's invitation to sit down with them out of confusion. What the hell had just happened? If she didn't know better, she'd think her mother had been summoning spirits from the dead. How could that even be possible? It was all too much for her to comprehend, especially this early in the morning.

She started to back out of the door when Ella noticed her moving. Until now she'd been staring at the spot where her family had just been standing.

"We need to talk about what you just saw." She said.

"I have to get ready for school mom."

"You can be late today. I'll write you a note. This is important."

"It's only my second day back. I'm not going to be late already."

"Meet me for lunch?" Ella suggested. Aria hesitated for a second before nodding. "Great. I'll pick you up and we can come back here. I promise I'll explain everything. And then maybe, if you want, you can come with me to meet your Aunt Phoebe after school?" At this Aria smiled. She'd always liked Phoebe. Her dad didn't have any siblings and she'd enjoyed having a fun aunt around the few times she'd come to visit.

Aria left the attic silently and went to take a shower. Her mind was coming up with so many theories to explain what she'd seen but nothing made sense unless it was actually magic. Deciding that it was best to push it to the back of her mind until she had a chance to talk to her mom about it, she started trying to decide what to wear to school.

Unfortunately for Aria, her mind seemed to have other ideas. She'd spent the whole morning at school thinking about magic, barely registering a word that any of her teachers had said. The second that the bell rang signalling that it was lunch time she made her way to the front of the school where Ella was already waiting to pick her up.

"Hi honey. How was school?" She asked.

"The usual." Aria brushed it off, not wanting her mom to think that she hadn't been taking the morning seriously because of what she'd witnessed earlier. "Are you going to tell me what happened in the attic?"

"Once we get home I will. I need to concentrate on driving." Ella said, although they both knew that she was just stalling, trying to put off the inevitable conversation that she was both relieved about and dreading having. At this point she wasn't quite sure which was more relevant. It would be good to have someone else around the house who knew she was a witch and maybe she could un-bind Aria's powers. That way she had protection if Ella was ever unable to defend her against a demon attack. On the other hand, how do you tell someone that you're a witch and you've passed your powers down to them? How do you even begin to explain the danger you've been in because of this 'gift'. It wasn't as if she'd even loved being a witch in the first place.

The ride home seemed to take forever for Aria, whereas Ella found that it was over way too quickly. Once inside she headed straight to the kitchen to make them each a coffee whilst Aria waited on the couch in the living room.

Noticing that her mom was taking a while with the coffee, Aria got up and walked to the kitchen. Ella was facing away from her, stirring one of the mugs of coffee.

"Mom?" Aria asked, figuring that she hadn't heard her entering the room.

All of a sudden there was a loud bang and the two mugs smashed on the worktop, spilling the hot liquid everywhere. This made both Aria and Ella jump, although Ella regained her composure almost instantly.

"Sorry, I guess I'm just a little nervous." She admitted. "Do you want me to make you another one?"

"Wait, you did that?" Aria said, shocked.

"Yeah. I'm usually more in control of my powers. I didn't really want the first time you saw me use them to be so..."

"Explosive?" Aria supplied.

Ella nodded. "How about we go up to the attic?" She suggested. "There's some stuff up there that might help me explain all this."

Aria followed her mother obediently, eager to get some answers but equally a little scared of what she'd just seen her do.


	4. Chapter 4

**Here's the next chapter :) I hope you're all enjoying reading it as much as I am writing it :)**

The pair of them sat down on the couch where Ella had been sitting earlier with the ghosts of her mother and grandmother. Aria stayed silent, although she was looking at Ella expectantly, as if to say that it was up to her to make the next move. She got the hint as soon as she'd seen the look on her daughter's face. It was the same look Grams gave them when they were growing up whenever she wanted an explanation about what had happened. She remembered how it was directed at her younger sister more often than either of the others; she was definitely the troublemaker of the family.

Taking a deep breath, Ella started to talk. "Aria, you've got to understand that what I'm about to tell you is very serious. You can't tell anyone else about it or we could all get in a lot of trouble." Aria nodded. "Sweetie, I'm a witch."

"A what? How?"

"It's passed down through the family, specifically the women in the family. We come from a line of some of the most powerful witches in history, power that has been growing with each generation dating back to our ancestor Melinda Warren in the seventeenth century."

"You said 'we'. Does that mean I'm a witch too?" Aria asked, half jokingly. Witches weren't real, were they?

"Technically, yes. I bound your powers when you were a baby to keep you safe. As my daughter there would have been a lot of people after you and your magic and I couldn't let that happen."

Aria took a second to process what she'd just been told. "That's insane." She concluded. "Why would anyone be after me?"

"It's a very long story." Ella started. "But basically the birth of three sisters in the Halliwell line forms the power of three. We're also sometimes known as the Charmed ones. It had never happened before us and made us the most powerful witches alive. Everyone wanted our power, from demons and warlocks to the Source of all evil. I knew that if they were after us they'd go after you too and I didn't want you to have that life. You shouldn't have to be looking over your shoulder all the time worried that someone is watching you and waiting to attack."

_It's a bit late for that,_ Aria mused, thinking about the text she received from 'A' yesterday.

"If I do have these powers, is there any way of getting them back?"

"I can undo the spell, but I wouldn't want to put you in the danger it would bring. We'd have to talk about it properly if I was ever to do it. The only other way to get them back is if I die." Ella explained.

"Have you had your powers all your life?"

"No, Grams bound them when Phoebe was born for our safety, knowing that there was a warlock after the power of three. She never undid the spell so I didn't get them until I was 25."

Aria didn't have time to respond before she was interrupted by her phone vibrating in her pocket. Thinking it could be Emily or someone else from school worried about where she was, she opened the message to read it.

_So all I have to do is kill Mommy and I'll have a little liar witch to play with. I can't wait. Kisses. –A_

"Who is it?" Ella asked, seeing the scared look on her daughter's face.

"No one."

"I know you better than that, Aria. Don't lie to me." She scolded gently, not wanting to push her too far after what she'd just learnt.

Reluctantly, Aria showed Ella the text on her phone, tears starting to form in her eyes as she re-read the message.

"Who's 'A'?" Ella asked, hoping that her daughter knew something about this person who seemed o know that she was a witch.

"I don't know. I got a text from them yesterday at school as well. It's like someone's watching me."

"Not just you." Ella admitted. "This 'A' knows I'm a witch and is threatening to expose me. That's who the text was from yesterday when you came in to my room."

"I thought you said it was from your ex-husband."

"No, he orbed in to tell me something. I think that's how 'A' found out."

"Orbed?"

"It's like travelling or teleporting or... it's hard to explain." Ella said. "Leo!" She shouted, looking up at the ceiling out of habit considering she'd always imagined him coming from 'up there'.

Seconds later white lights appeared in front of her and Leo orbed into the attic. If there was any doubt left in Aria's mind that magic existed it was definitely gone now. She just still couldn't believe that she herself was a witch. That was just too weird.

"Piper, what is it?" He asked, before his eyes fell on the teenager sitting next to her. "Aria?" He questioned. Ella nodded. "You finally told her?"

"Not you as well." Ella moaned under her breath. Why was everyone so keen for her to tell her family that she was a witch? "And I kind of had to. She walked in on me talking to mom and Grams this morning."

Aria was still staring at Leo in shock. Not only had he appeared from nowhere but he looked to be a lot younger than her mom. They must've married when he was really young, she reasoned.

"It's nice to finally meet you, Aria." Leo said kindly, extending a hand for her to shake. "I'm your mom's Whitelighter."

"Whitelighter?" Aria questioned.

"Think of me as a guardian angel." He supplied. "I protect witches and future Whitelighters from evil when they need me."

Leo glanced up at the ceiling, as if listening for something.

"Another charge?" Ella asked.

"No, it's the Elders. I should go and see what they want." Leo replied.

"Ok but once you're free we need to talk about Paige." Leo nodded and orbed out of the room.

"Who's Paige?" Aria asked her mother once Leo was gone.

"She's my half-sister." Ella said. "I only found out about her yesterday but Leo said she's a witch and with her we could get the power of three back."

"What happened to it? The power of three, I mean?"

"It didn't exist after your Aunt Prue died."

"Oh, I'm sorry."

"It's ok sweetie. This is all new to you. You're allowed to ask questions." Ella assured her. She paused for a moment before continuing. "Do you want me to show you some magic?" She asked.

Aria considered it for a moment before nodding cautiously. She was still a little scared of her mom's magic after seeing her blow up the coffee mugs.

"Come with me to the window." Ella instructed.

Outside the house they could see a few cars driving through the street and a person walking a dog just past their front lawn. Ella raised her hands and the scene before them froze. The cars came to an instant stop and even the trees weren't moving in the wind.

"Was that you?" Aria asked. Ella nodded.

"I can freeze things and, like you saw earlier, blow them up." She explained before raising her hands once again and unfreezing everything. Aria watched in awe as everything continued to move on like nothing had even happened.

"Is there anything else you can do?"

"I can cast spells and make potions. You saw earlier that I can summon the dead with a spell."

"So you don't fly around on a broomstick or anything?" Aria teased.

Ella laughed. "No, although Phoebe did that once when we travelled back to the past. She started off the whole witch cliché with that and was pretty damn proud of it too." Aria joined in with Ella's laughter. Despite everything she'd just found out, she felt as much at ease around her mother as she'd always done.

"So you can time travel as well?"

"Only in special circumstances. It's dangerous because you have no idea what you could be changing."

Out of nowhere Leo orbed back in to the attic.

"What did they want?" Ella asked.

"They told me that if you were to unbind Aria's powers they'd assign me to be her Whitelighter. They've also asked me to be Paige's, which makes sense as you'd be bringing back the power of three."

"Oh, ok. Well I need to discuss it properly with Aria before we do anything. Did they say what they thought we should do?"

"Since when did you listen to what the Elders thought anyway?" Leo teased and Ella laughed. "They're leaving it up to you, of course. It's not their place to say."

"Like that ever stopped them before."

"You're just as stubborn as they are." Leo pointed out before once again glancing upwards as heard the cry of one of his charges. "I have to go. Let me know when you reach a decision." He said before orbing out.

"Does he always do that?" Aria asked.

"What? Orb out in the middle of a conversation?" Aria nodded. "Yeah, pretty much. It put a big strain on our relationship after a while and it's not like I can even be mad at him for it when he's off being a force of good in the universe." Ella ranted.

Aria started to look a bit uncomfortable. "Sorry, I just can't imagine you being with anyone other than Dad. I mean, I know you were married to him but meeting him just made that seem real."

"This is all a lot to take in. I'm sorry I've had to spring it all on you at once but we'll have to do this sooner or later. The Elders aren't known for being patient with us - we didn't exactly see eye to eye a lot of the time. We need to talk about whether I'm going to unbind your powers."

Aria nodded. She wasn't sure yet if she even wanted to be a witch. With everything that she'd learnt about her mother in the past few minutes she hadn't even had the time to consider what it would be like if she got these powers back.

"You said if I had my powers people would come after me. Wouldn't it be safer for me to stay like this?" She asked.

"I would never want to put you in that sort of danger, you know that right?" Ella asked and Aria nodded instantly. Her mom had always been there for her and she knew that wouldn't change now. "The problem is if we get the power of three back we'll all be walking targets for demons. I wouldn't want to leave you defenceless if I can't help you. Plus I know you'd be a lot safer if I were to teach you how to use your powers properly, rather than having to learn it all yourself like I did."

"So you think I should do it?"

"If it's what you want. I won't make the decision for you though. It's something you have to do on your own." Ella said. "Oh God, now I'm starting to sound like Leo." She laughed. "My point is only you can decide if you're ready."

"What about 'A'? If they're already threatening to expose you it's only a matter of time until they do the same to me."

"Then we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. Right now my main focus is keeping you alive and safe from demons."

"Why would they even attack here?" Aria asked.

Ella got up from the couch and walked over to a shelf at the far side of the attic that held a single book. "Because of this." She said, picking it up and bringing it back to Aria. "If they aren't trying to kill us they want to steal this."

The way Ella had said it so calmly worried Aria. What must her mother's life have been like if she could talk reasonably about the fact that some crazy demon creatures had tried to kill her so many times? Was that what her life would become now? How could anyone be ready for that?

Instead of voicing these fears, however, Aria's interest soon became focussed on the old looking book in her mother's arms.

"What is it?"

"It's called a Book of Shadows. Written in it are spells and potions that our family have used in the past, as well as information on demons and anything else that we come across. It contains so much knowledge and power that almost every demon in the Underworld wants to get their hands on it. Fortunately for us it protects itself from Evil."

"Would I blow things up like you do if I got my powers back?" She asked curiously. It looked dangerous and she didn't know if she would be able to handle it.

"I don't think so. For a while when I was pregnant with you I had the power of telekinesis so I'm assuming that's what you'll get. It was Prue's power."

"I think I want to do it." Aria decided suddenly, although something in the back of her mind said she would regret the decision. "If there are going to be demon things after us I want to be able to protect myself and help you."

Ella hesitated for a minute before nodding her head in agreement. She didn't want to drag her daughter in to this part of her life but what she said was true. She'd probably end up being in more danger if she couldn't protect herself from the evil that was out there. Still reluctant, however, she decided to give Aria a little more time to be sure of her decision.

"Why don't you think about it over night and let me know tomorrow after school? This life isn't something you should rush in to, especially not when you have the luxury of being given a choice." She said. A voice in her head that sounded strangely like her Grams seemed to have a different opinion. Being a Halliwell witch was Aria's birth right, her destiny. It would be wrong to stifle her magic, especially now that she knew it was innately inside of her.

Aria nodded before it dawned on her that they were still in the middle of the school day. She'd been so caught up in her conversation with her mom that neither woman had noticed how lunch had finished and Aria's next lesson had already started.

"I should really get back. Can you give me a lift?" She asked.

"Sure. I'll write you a note saying you had a family emergency. Do you want to meet me at The Brew later to see Phoebe and Leo? We're hoping he can persuade Paige to meet with us as well."

"Your half-sister?" Aria clarified and Ella nodded. "I don't know. I'll text you." She decided, her mind still reeling from finding out she was a witch and so were her mom and her aunt. She wasn't sure if she could even begin to process all of that as well as the appearance of some long-lost family member. On the other hand, at least she wouldn't be the only one there who was new to all this magic stuff. It would be a good way for her to bond with her other aunt.

Grabbing a granola bar from the cupboard in the kitchen on her way out, having realised she hadn't had a chance to eat lunch, Aria got in to the car with Ella. The older woman stayed silent, figuring that her daughter needed some time to think about what she'd just learned, and for this Aria was grateful. They said goodbye and Aria got out of the car, waving to her mom as she walked back into the school, dreading having to sit through her last classes of the day after receiving this new knowledge.


	5. Chapter 5

**Just want to say a big thank you to ashley62197 for reviewing the last chapter. I'm dedicating this one to you :) Hope everyone likes it.**

"Miss Montgomery, it's nice of you to finally join us." Mr Fitz said as Aria entered the classroom twenty minutes late. Silently, she dropped the note her mom had written on his desk and made her way to her seat. He picked up his copy of Pride and Prejudice. "Now who can tell me which character's view the 'truth universally acknowledged' represents?" He asked.

"Mrs Bennet's." Aria answered while she fished out a pen from the bottom of her bag. She had read the book many times before and was already starting to wonder why she'd been in such a rush to get back to school. That is, until she looked up at the teacher and remembered the night they met. Trying to hide her blush, she focussed back on what Mr Fitz was saying.

"...not only of Mrs Bennet but also of the majority of society at the time." He explained.

Sighing when he noticed that less than half of his class were taking notes, he announced that they were to study the first chapter of the book for a pop quiz during their next lesson. This led to a collective groan from the class before he carried on with his lesson.

"Where were you at lunch?" Emily whispered to her while Mr Fitz was distracted.

"I had to see my mom about something." Aria said. "A family emergency." She expanded slightly, using the same excuse as she had in the note to Mr Fitz.

"Oh, God. I hope everything's ok." She replied, concerned.

"Yeah it's all sorted now, although I can't meet up with you and the girls after school today."

"But we were meant to be working on that history project together." Emily argued.

"I know, I'm sorry. It's just my aunt is in town and mom said I can't miss seeing her this time." She said, referring to the last time Phoebe came to visit when Aria blew off a family day to go shopping with Alison and the other girls. She figured that it would be as good of an excuse as any for Emily. It wasn't as if she could say 'I'm going home to meet my mom's side of the family and talk to them about magic.'

At that moment, Mr Fitz looked over at them, clearly indicating that he had heard them talking and warning them to stop. Aria pulled her phone out of her pocket and sent Emily a quick text telling her that she might meet up with them later if she could get away.

The remainder of the lesson dragged by and the whole class sighed with relief when the bell rang.

"Aria, can I see you for a moment?" Mr Fitz said as everyone was rushing to get out of the door. Aria nodded to her friends, silently telling them that she would meet them later, and walked over to the desk at the front of the classroom.

"Ezra, look I'm sorry I was late it's just my mom..."

"It's ok, I'm sure it's all explained in the note. I was actually going to ask if you wanted to be transferred out of my class."

"Why would you think that?"

"I think that what happened between us might be a distraction and I wouldn't want to do anything that could get in the way of you reaching your potential in English. After all, you need a good final grade if you want to major in it at college."

"I don't think it will be a problem." She replied. "I should get to class."

Ezra waved his hand to dismiss her and she walked to her next lesson. Her cell phone made a noise to tell her that she'd received a message.

_Tell Ella about your dad's affair or I will, and I won't stop there. I'll tell mommy her daughter's sleeping with her teacher. –A_

Aria gasped. Was this 'A' for real? She couldn't tell her mom, it would crush her. After everything she'd been through the past couple of days there was no way Aria was going to put her through any more pain. However, there was something inside of her that told her the threat might be serious. If 'A' was going to make sure Ella knew either way, wouldn't it be best coming from her? And that way, she wouldn't find out about her and Ezra as well. But how was she even going to begin to tell her? It would break her heart.

Deciding to think about it some more later, Aria continued to walk to class, hoping that it went by quickly so that she could meet up with her mom and Phoebe sooner.

The second the bell rang at the end of the day Aria was out of her seat and heading towards the door. She drove to The Brew in record time, managing to get there before Ella. Seeing that Phoebe was sat at a booth in the back corner, she made her way over to her.

"Aunt Phoebe?" Aria asked.

The woman looked up, her eyes meeting Aria's.

"Aria? I didn't know you were coming today." She said, flustered. How was she going to talk to Piper, Paige and Leo with Aria around?

"It was mom's idea." Aria replied. Seeing the look of confusion cross Phoebe's face, she decided to explain a bit more. "I found out about _it_ this morning." She said, looking over her shoulder to make sure no one appeared to be listening. "Magic." Aria whispered.

"Sit down." Phoebe smiled. She was about to ask how she had found out when she was interrupted by the sound of a woman shouting angrily at someone.

"What the hell just happened? Are you kidding me? I can't be here! I can't..." The young woman yelled before the man she was directing her anger at interrupted.

"Be quiet." He hissed.

Aria and Phoebe looked over to see what all the commotion was about.

"That's Leo, isn't it?" Aria asked.

Phoebe nodded. "And that other girl must be Paige." She said to her niece, before raising her voice to call Leo over to them. "Leo!"

Leo's head spun around to whoever was calling his name and his eyes landed on two familiar women sat at a table at the back of the café.

Just then another woman called out Leo's name. He looked back towards the door to see his ex-wife standing in front of him, a few feet from Paige. The younger woman still looked terrified at what had just happened.

"Pi..." He started, before correcting himself. "Ella." By now he was well aware that they'd caused a bit of a scene and knew that people in a small town such as Rosewood would talk if he called her by her birth name. "Why don't we just go back to your place so we can talk this out?" He suggested. Ella, Phoebe and Aria obliged and walked outside the restaurant to Ella's car.

Back inside The Brew, Paige was still not showing any signs of leaving.

"I'm not going anywhere with you." She told him firmly. "I want you to take me back, however you did it. I have a date tonight and I don't want to get involved in your crazy business."

"I'm afraid you're already involved." Leo replied.

Ella burst back in through the door to find out why they were taking so long. Deciding that it would be best not to make any more of a scene than they had already, she held up her hands and froze the room.

To Paige's surprise, everyone but her and the woman named Ella stopped moving. Ella waved her hand slightly in Leo's direction, causing him to unfreeze.

"What's taking you guys so long?" She asked.

"How did you do that?" Paige replied, not answering her question.

"I'll explain later but right now we need to go." She said, wary of using any magic in front of mortals, especially with 'A' around.

"Ok, but what are you going to do about them?"

"She'll unfreeze them; you just need to get back into position so that no one notices." Leo explained.

Without another word, Paige assumed a similar position to the one she had been holding when the room was frozen and Ella waved her hand again to unfreeze the scene.

"Right now let's go. Aria and Phoebe are probably already back by now." Ella said, ushering them both into her car. "So, Paige, what has Leo told you about us?" She asked as she started the car.

"That apparently you're my sisters. Then he started talking crap about witches and magic and light-somethings."

"Whitelighters." Leo corrected.

"Right, yeah. Anyway then we did this whole weird teleporting thing and I'm starting to believe that maybe what he said isn't all crap. Add to that you freezing an entire café and I'm doing my best not to freak out."

"That's understandable. You should've seen what I was like when I first got my powers. I'm just sorry Leo had to tell you about all this so quickly."

"Yeah, you could've at least cushioned the blow a little. What's the big rush?" Paige asked him.

"We're worried there might be demons coming after you." Leo replied.

"Demons?"

"Yeah, we'll explain more about them later. Basically you have the potential to be a very powerful witch. Now, as far as we know, no one else knows that you're related to Piper and Phoebe but if the Underworld ever finds out they will come after you and we want to make sure you can defend yourself." He tried to explain.

"We're here." Ella announced. "Come inside and we'll try and get you and Aria a bit more up to speed."

Once inside, everyone headed up to the attic so as not to be disturbed when Byron and Mike got home. Ella, Phoebe and Leo spent the next hour or so explaining briefly their history and about how Paige could bring about the Charmed ones again. As much as Paige found it difficult to believe everything, let alone keep up with all that they were telling her, she was drawn to the idea of magic and witchcraft and agreed to try and receive her powers.

The three sisters headed over to the Book of Shadows and Phoebe opened it up to the first page.

"Just say this spell out loud with us, ok?" Ella instructed and all three sisters began to chant the spell.

"Hear now the words of the witches

The secrets we hid in the night

The oldest of Gods are invoked here

The great work of magic is sought

In this night and in this hour

We call upon the Ancient Power

Bring your powers to we sisters three!

We want the power

Give us the power."

Aria and Leo watched in awe as a white light shone down on them as they read the words from the book.

"Is this it?" Aria asked him. Leo nodded.

"Doesn't it feel good to have the power of three back?" Phoebe asked once they'd finished the spell.

"Don't get ahead of yourself, Phoebe." Ella warned her. "Paige is still new at this and we don't know if the Source or anyone else knows about her yet."

"I know, I know. I just like knowing that we can finally defend ourselves against an upper-level demon attack."

"If only we knew how to vanquish the Source."

"Woah, wait a minute!" Paige interrupted. "I became a witch thirty seconds ago and you're already talking about me helping you to kill this Source of all evil guy."

"You're right, I'm sorry." Ella apologised. "It's just he's been lurking for a long time wanting us dead and wanting the power of three and now he can have both so we're getting worried."

"And I want to help, don't get me wrong, but I don't have a clue what I'm doing. I don't even know if I have a power like you guys do."

"Well according to the prophecy the third sister has the power to move things with her mind, like Prue could." Ella told her.

"Ok, so how does it work?" She asked.

"Concentrate on an object, like that candle right there." Phoebe suggested, pointing to one of the candles on the floor that Ella had used earlier. "And then you just wave your arm at it."

Paige tried waving her arm at the candle, feeling a wave of disappointment when nothing happened.

"Or you could squint your eyes." Ella suggested. "She used to squint her eyes."

Paige tried again but to no avail.

"Maybe I'm not one of you after all if I can't even make that candle..." She trailed off when she noticed white orbs surrounding it. Half a second later the candle was in her outstretched hand.

"So perhaps the Whitelighter in her makes it work differently?" Phoebe suggested.

"I can't believe I just did that." Paige exclaimed.

Suddenly a man appeared in the attic as if from nowhere. From his hands he shot an energy ball in Phoebe's direction, who ducked to avoid the attack.

"Leo! Get Aria out of here!" Ella yelled. Leo promptly orbed Aria downstairs to the relative safety of her bedroom.

Meanwhile, the three witches were still trying to dodge energy balls. Ella had tried to blow him up but was having little success.

"Power of three spell?" Phoebe suggested, grabbing Paige's hand. Ella nodded and took hold of her other hand. "Repeat after us." She instructed the newest witch.

"The power of three will set us free. The power of three will set us free..." Ella and Phoebe chanted. Paige joined in and the air around the demon started to swirl. By the time they'd repeated the chant a couple more times it was clear that it was working. By the fifth time the demon had completely disappeared.

"Not bad for your first vanquish." Phoebe smiled at Paige.

"Welcome to our world." Ella told her before she noticed the deep scratch on her youngest sister's arm. "Oh shit! Leo!" She yelled.

Within seconds Leo and Aria had orbed back up to the attic.

"Is everyone ok?" He asked.

"We'll all live. You need to heal Paige's arm." Ella said.

Leo wasted no time in making sure that the deep cut was healed. Both Paige and Aria watched in awe as it happened.

"Who was it?" Leo asked.

"I don't know. We're just lucky he was on his own." Phoebe replied.

"He was probably just a messenger demon." Ella guessed. "The Source must know we've brought the power of three back."

"Which means there will be more where that came from." Leo finished for her.

"You should unbind my powers mom." Aria interrupted.

"Sweetie, are you sure? They might not even know you're a witch."

"But what if they do? What if they attack me when I'm with my friends or at school? I might need to be able to defend myself."

"The girl's got a point, and I know Grams would agree." Phoebe added.

"Ok." Ella decided, glaring at Phoebe for bringing their Grams into it. "But I'm going back to teaching so I can watch out for you at school. I wouldn't want anything to happen to you or Mike because of me."

Aria nodded. There was no way that she felt ready for what was about to happen, given what she'd just witnessed, but she had meant what she said. She wanted to be able to protect herself and save innocents like her mom and aunts did. Hearing some of the tales of when Ella, Phoebe and Prue were starting out as witches made her know that she wanted to do good in the world like them.

In all the drama of the afternoon she'd all but forgotten about the threat that 'A' made earlier. She couldn't help wondering if there was a magical solution to it. But then, she figured, if there was her mom would've mentioned it already, wouldn't she? Aria decided to ask her once they were in private.


	6. Chapter 6

**Thanks again to ashley62197 for the lovely review :) I hope everyone enjoys this chapter :)  
**

"So when are we going to do this?" Aria asked, referring to unbinding her powers.

Ella hesitated, still worried about the dangers of the life she was giving her daughter. Sure, she knew having powers would help her in case of an attack but she didn't want her to become a target for the Underworld. All she'd wanted when she moved away from San Francisco was to give herself and her family a normal life, although she was starting to think that would never happen.

Deciding that there wasn't another way around the situation, Ella told Aria that, if she was sure, she would say the spell now. Aria nodded and Ella made her way over to the Book of Shadows. She expertly flicked through the old pages of the book, finding the page she was after in seconds and began reading aloud from it.

Aria wasn't sure what she was expecting when it happened but there was no white light above her and she could honestly say that she didn't feel any different after her mother closed the book.

"Did it work?" The young girl asked.

"It should've done. Try moving that candle like we told Paige to." Ella suggested.

Aria felt all eyes in the room on her as she stared at the candle and waved her arm at it. A wave of disappointment washed over her when nothing happened. She tried a couple more times and was starting to get frustrated. Everyone else had made it look so easy. Why couldn't she do it?

"This is hopeless." She sighed. "Are you sure I can do this?" Aria asked Ella.

"I was able to do it when I was pregnant with you, just like my mom had premonitions when she was pregnant with Phoebe. You can do it, Aria." She assured her daughter.

Deciding that she'd give it one more try before giving up and accepting that she wasn't a witch, Aria gestured to the candle once more.

To her surprise, the candle tipped over.

"Did I just do that?" She asked.

Phoebe nodded. "Our powers are tied to our emotions, especially when we first get them." She explained. "Something in you must've triggered it that last time that you weren't feeling as strongly when you tried before."

"Your powers will grow as well." Ella told Paige and Aria. "When I first got mine I could only freeze a room. Over the years I learnt that I could freeze parts of objects or whole streets. After a few years I learnt to blow things up as well.

"Which got very expensive for us when she was trying to get that under control." Phoebe interrupted.

Ella glared at her younger sister, although she had to agree that her power cost them a lot of money when it came to replacing things in the house that she'd blown up. "My point is you need to master the powers you have as soon as you can. If you get too emotional you don't know what you could accidently do."

They spent the next few hours trying to teach Aria and Paige the basics of the craft. They both gained a certain amount of control over their powers and were warned about the consequences of using them for personal gain. Ella showed them how to make a simple stunning potion with the ingredients she had stored in the attic.

Aria felt her cell vibrate in her pocket and picked it up to read the message.

_Tick tock. Tick tock. –A_

The young girl gasped, worried about what would happen if she didn't tell her mom about Byron's affair. She didn't know how much time 'A' would give her but she couldn't do it here, not now. Just as she was about to put her phone back in her pocket it vibrated again.

"Someone's popular tonight." Phoebe teased her.

Aria forced a smile and read the second message. Emily was asking her if she was still joining them to work on the history project.

"Who is it, sweetie?" Ella asked, the worried look on her daughter's features scaring her somewhat after their encounter with 'A'.

"Oh, it's Emily. I was meant to meet up with her and the girls at Spencer's tonight. We've got that history project due in at the end of the week."

Ella looked at the time on her watch. Seeing that it was just before seven in the evening she agreed to let Aria go.

"Ok but don't be back later that twelve, it's a school night." She told her. "And be careful." Ella warned, worried about letting her daughter out of her sight with her new powers. "If you need us just call for Leo. He'll hear you and we'll be right over."

Aria nodded and sent a quick text to Emily telling her that she was on her way. She grabbed her car keys and drove the short distance to Spencer's house.

As much as she was happy to be seeing her friends, Aria found that the drive was over far too quickly. With everything that had happened over the course of the day she'd had next to no time to process it all.

She pulled up next to Hanna's car on the street in front of Spencer's house and walked up to the front door. They must've heard her arrive as she'd barely had time to knock before Spencer opened the door.

"Aria. It's about time. We've got so much to do." She said, walking back to the island in the kitchen where the other two girls were sat.

"But first we want to hear all about it." Hanna smiled.

"All about what?" Aria asked. How did they know already? Did she look different? Had she preformed some magic without knowing it?

"About Iceland." She replied. Aria visibly relaxed.

"Oh, well there's not really much to tell." Aria said, looking through her bag for her notebook so that they could start the project.

They worked on the project for an hour before slowly each girl gave up and they ended up talking about what they'd done over the past year, sharing memories from school and catching up on each other's lives. It was almost as if the past year had never happened, apart from the fact that there was one person missing from the group.

Half an hour later Aria received a text message. All three girls could see the look of fear on her face as she picked up her cell phone, and Aria saw it mirrored in theirs.

"Anyone we know?" Hanna asked.

"No, it's just my mom." She said, visibly relaxing. All four girls shared a look, as if asking why the others were all so worried about a text message. "Emily and I aren't the only ones who got messages from 'A', are we?" Aria asked.

The other girls shook their heads, but were prevented from replying by the sound of sirens coming up the street.

The sirens got louder as it got closer and before long they could see flashing blue lights outside the window. Spencer got up to see what was going on from the window and was confronted by a large group of people on her front lawn staring at the DiLaurentis' house.

"What's happening?" Emily asked.

"I can't see from here. Let's go outside and check it out." Spencer replied, grabbing her jacket.

The four girls pushed through the crowd to see a body bag being wheeled out of Alison's old house.

"What happened?" Aria asked a nearby police officer.

"The new residents found the DiLaurentis girl's body." He told them.

Suddenly the doors of the nearby police cars and ambulance, as well as of some cars that had parked to observe the scene, slammed shut. There was a loud crash as the glass broke from the impact of each door. The attention of bystanders that had previously been directed towards the body being loaded in to the ambulance turned to one of the police cars who's siren had started sounding again.

A couple of police officers went to check out the vehicle but there was no one nearby that they thought could've set the sirens off.

Aria was starting to panic. Not only had she just found out that one of her best friend's was dead but her newly found powers had already caused a small disaster. She was snapped out of her train of thought by the police officer.

"Did you know her?" He asked.

"Yeah, she was one of our best friends." Emily told him.

"I'm sorry." The man said sincerely. Just then a reporter came up to him.

"Inspector Morris, what can you tell us about the case?" She asked, holding a microphone up for him to talk in to.

"I'm afraid I'm not at liberty to tell you anything at the moment, except that the body found is presumed to be that of the missing teen Alison DiLaurentis, who used to live in this house." He said.

While he was talking, Aria and her friends had slowly backed away from the inspector. Aria had taken out her phone and was calling Ella to pick her up, not wanting to be around people when she was feeling this upset and had no control over her powers.

Ella told Aria that Leo would orb there to drive her home, given that Aria admitted she felt in no state to drive, and suggested that she wait by Spencer's house for him to find her.

Aria excused herself from the group, saying that she'd spotted her aunt who would drive her back, and left to wait for Leo. She walked towards her car and got there just in time to see Leo orb in to the driver's seat. She unlocked the car and let herself in the other side.

"Hey, how are you holding up?" He asked her gently.

"I don't know. I don't think I've really had time to process it. We all thought she was still alive somewhere and now it's just..." She trailed off.

"I know. Let's just get you home, ok?" Leo suggested. Aria nodded and they drove back in silence.

Once they got home Ella rushed to the door to embrace her daughter. It was only then that Aria started to feel the tears flowing down her cheeks as she allowed herself to cry for her friend.

Byron was sat on the couch and had turned the television on to the local news station.

"...not at liberty to tell you anything at the moment, except that the body found is presumed to be that of the missing teen Alison DiLaurentis..." The inspector was saying.

Ella, Phoebe and Leo all looked up at once as they heard the voice over the speakers.

"Is that...?" Phoebe asked.

"Darryl." Ella finished for her.

"You never told me he moved here."

"I didn't know."

"Sorry, who?" Byron asked.

"He was a friend back in San Francisco." Ella told him. "I haven't heard from him in years."

"Mom, I need to talk to you." Aria interrupted. "It's private." She added, glancing at her family.

"Of course, do you want to go upstairs?" Ella asked. Aria nodded, wiping her tears from her face with the sleeve of her jumper. Once they reached Aria's room the two women sat on her bed.

"I think I used my powers by accident." She admitted.

"When?"

"Right after I found out about Alison. I sort of smashed some car doors shut."

"Oh, honey I'm not surprised. Our powers are controlled by our emotions. There's no way they could link it back to you. No one got hurt, did they?"

"No, everyone was fine. It's just scary to know I can do that without even realising."

"It's a big adjustment but we'll help you through it." Ella smiled kindly.

"Also I don't think we're the only people who got texts from 'A'. The other girls did too."

"You told them?"

"Only about me. I didn't mention you getting texts because I didn't want to drag you in to it with the whole magic thing. There's too much at stake."

"I agree. Thank you for that, although if it gets much worse we'll have to talk to Darryl about it."

"What are you going to tell him?" Aria asked, concerned about what would happen if he asked what the texts were about.

"He already knows I'm a witch. Once he finds out you're my daughter he'll probably connect the dots for himself. He may not have wanted to know much about it but he's not stupid."

Aria looked confused, if not slightly shocked, about this information but figured now would not be the best time to question it. Instead she leaned in to Ella, who wrapped a protective arm around her daughter. They sat in silence for a while, each of them trying to process what had happened.

With the texts she'd received from 'A' still ringing loudly in her mind, Aria tried to figure out a way of breaking the news to her mom. Ella was bound to figure out that 'A' had something else on her sooner or later, and that would mean her finding out about Meredith or Ezra. She would have to say something eventually, but she knew that now wasn't the right time; not after everything they'd been through that day.

Instead, Aria tried to focus on understanding everything that had happened in the past twenty four hours. It hurt her head slightly to think of how much had changed, from finding out her family were powerful witches to receiving her powers to the police finding Alison's body. She couldn't begin to comprehend how different her life would be now.

After a while, Aria spoke up.

"I still can't believe she's gone." She said quietly. "I mean, this is Alison. For all we knew she could've run away somewhere and be living a life of luxury."

"I wouldn't have put it past her. She always had a way of making people do what she wanted."

"That's how I tried to picture her. Since she disappeared I didn't let myself think she was..." She trailed off, not wanting to say the word so soon after finding out what had happened.

"I know, but sometimes it's harder not knowing. At least now you can have some closure." Ella replied. "And maybe someday you'll be able to talk to her again."

"You mean like you did this morning with grandma?" Aria asked.

Ella nodded. "It's not always easy and can take time but it's a possibility in the future. After your Aunt Prue died I couldn't summon her spirit for years."

"Can I meet her some day? And your mom and Grams?"

"Of course you can, sweetheart. When we next get the house to ourselves we'll go up to the attic and try and summon them together." She smiled, hoping the thought of speaking to her family would cheer her up and take her mind off of the tragedy that had occurred that evening.


	7. Chapter 7

**Ok so this chapter was starting to get really long so I thought I'd split it up. I'll try and post the second part by tomorrow, if you guys want it ;) Thanks as always to ashley62197 for reviewing this story :) and thank you to the anonymous reviewer as well, you're both so kind :)**

Two weeks had passed since Alison's funeral. Paige, Phoebe and Leo had all gone home and Ella was due to start her new teaching position at Rosewood High the next day. Every day after school Aria and Ella would spend a couple of hours practicing magic up in the attic. It was Ella's main priority to make sure that her daughter was ready to face a demon if one found her. She couldn't be left unprotected. Ella could only hope that they left Byron and Mike alone, considering they didn't have powers and the demons would have nothing to gain from their death.

Ella was already in the attic when Aria arrived home from school. She came in to find her mom searching through a trunk for something. Beside her were four white candles.

"Hey mom. What are you looking for?" Aria asked.

"Another white candle. I know there's one in here somewhere."

"Can I help?"

"Yeah, could you set up these four candles in a circle on the floor please?" She told her daughter. "Found it!"

Ella got up and placed the final candle in the space that Aria had left for it.

"What are we doing?"

"We are going to try and summon your Aunt Prue. Come with me to the Book." Ella instructed. She had already opened it to the right page and told Aria to read the spell aloud with her, calling out to Prue with her mind.

Together they said the spell and lights began to appear in the circle. Aria couldn't believe that it was working. She was actually going to meet her aunt who her mom had loved so much.

Suddenly a young woman, who looked to be in her late twenties, was standing in the circle of candles.

"Piper?" She asked.

"Prue!" Ella smiled, reaching out to hug her sister who had just walked out of the circle and become solid. "I've missed you." She said, tears forming in her eyes.

"Oh sweetie don't cry. I've heard you have a lot to celebrate." Ella gave her a questioning look, as if to ask Prue how she knew what was going on in her life. "Grams." She responded in reply to her sister's unanswered question. Ella nodded with a small smile. Of course Grams had been watching them, she reasoned. "Is this Aria?" Prue asked, bringing Ella out of her thoughts.

"Yes. Come over here and say hello." Ella smiled at her daughter, her eyes still glistening with unshed tears.

"I... ummm..." Aria hesitated, suddenly nervous. This woman standing in front of her was dead. Actually dead. She was a ghost. It shouldn't be possible to talk to ghosts, let alone hug them, yet here she was looking completely alive and smiling a welcoming smile at her.

Slowly she took a step towards Prue, who took this as an invitation to move closer to her niece as well.

"It's nice to meet you Aria."

"Why don't we sit down on the couch?" Ella suggested and the three women took a seat. "Prue, I actually summoned you for a reason." She admitted. "Something's been happening to me, Aria and some of her friends and I needed some advice. I didn't want to worry Phoebe or Leo and it's not something I feel I can talk to mom or Grams about."

Aria shot her mother a questioning look. Was she really going to tell her about 'A'? Ella just nodded at her, indicating that she knew what she was doing and had thought it through. It wasn't as if Prue was a threat to 'A' so she was sure there would be no repercussions if she told her sister. Prue had always been there for her growing up and she really needed some advice from her big sister right now.

"What happened?" Prue asked, noticing the silent exchange between her sister and niece.

"Well we've been getting threatening messages from someone called 'A'." Ella started. Prue stayed silent, gesturing for her to continue. "Whoever it is knows we're witches and apparently they know things about Aria and her friends that only her friend Alison knew."

"And you don't think it's Alison?"

"She was found dead three weeks ago." Ella said sadly.

"Oh, I'm sorry." Prue replied sincerely. "Can I see these messages? What do they say?" She asked.

"I don't have my cell on me." Ella realised. "Aria, have you got yours?"

Aria hesitated. Yes, she did have her phone but she couldn't let her mom see it. There were texts from 'A' about Byron and Meredith and texts about her and Ezra. There was no way she could show her those messages. Instead of replying, Aria merely shook her head. She was never any good at lying to her mom and didn't trust herself to talk without Ella seeing straight through whatever she said.

"Ok, I'll grab mine from my bag downstairs." Ella said, getting up to leave.

Once she had left, Prue turned to Aria with a serious look on her face.

"What aren't you telling her?" She asked. Aria looked shocked. "I may not know as much about what's going on as Grams does but I'm not completely oblivious. You do have your cell phone with you, don't you?"

For some reason, Aria found herself nodding.

"Can I see it?" Prue questioned, holding out her hand. Reluctantly, Aria handed over her phone. Prue read the most recent text from 'A'. It was one Aria had received the previous night warning her to tell Ella about Byron's affair. If her mom had looked at her phone the cat would have been out of the bag straight away.

Aria expected her aunt to immediately hand her phone over to her mom and show her what 'A' had sent her but instead she simply gave it back with a whispered promise that they would talk later as Ella reappeared at the doorway.

"Is there no one else you can tell about this?" Prue asked after she'd read the messages of Ella's phone.

"Not without risking 'A' finding out and telling the world about us." Ella replied.

"What about that cop guy you recognised from the news the night they found Ali's body?" Aria suggested. Prue raised a questioning eyebrow at Aria. "Darren or something."

"Darryl." Ella corrected.

"Darryl?" Prue questioned. "As in Darryl Morris?"

"Can you think of another cop called Darryl that I'd trust with our secret?" Ella asked rhetorically. "I only found out he lived in Rosewood a couple of weeks ago. I thought about telling him but 'A' has something on all of us and no one wants it getting out. If whoever it is found out we'd told the police we'd all be in trouble."

"Surely you can do some magic to make sure 'A' doesn't find out?" Aria asked.

"Ok well you should have a look in the Book just in case." Prue suggested. "Do you want to do that downstairs Piper? You know that book better than anyone now and I'd like a chance to get to know my niece." She smiled.

"Ok." Ella agreed. "I'll be in my bedroom when you're done." She said, returning her sister's smile. After all these years she was happy to be able to give Aria the opportunity to get to know her other aunt, and for Prue to know her niece. Once in the privacy of her bedroom she sat on her bed flicking through the pages of the old book and looking through all the familiar spells and potions that she'd used over the years. She didn't know what she was expecting to find that she hadn't thought of before but 'A' was a big threat to them and anything seemed worth a try right now.

Meanwhile, in the attic, Prue was trying to help Aria decide what to do about the threats that 'A' had made.

"So what happened between your dad and this other woman?" Prue asked.

"I caught him kissing her last year. I confronted him about it and apparently he'd been having an affair with her. I don't know how long for but, from the sounds of it, it was a while. She was one of his students. That's when he decided to take us all to Iceland to get away from it so that I wouldn't tell mom." Aria confessed, close to tears.

"Oh, honey. Did you keep this to yourself this whole time?" She was trying to appear calm for Aria's sake but the thought that some scumbag could cheat on her sister was enough to make her blood boil. She'd never had the best luck when it came to falling in love, from the Warlock Jeremy to her Whitelighter Leo, Piper seemed to always fall for the wrong guy. And now her husband had cheated on her. Prue had every intention of giving him a piece of her mind, being the protective big sister that she'd always been, but decided against it if not only for the fact that he knew she was dead and exposing her sister's secret would cause more problems that she'd solve.

What was worse was that the man was actually making his daughter lie to her mom about it and has been hiding it from her for over a year. Did he even know how that was affecting Aria?

"The only other person that knew was Alison." Aria replied in response to her aunt's question. "What should I do?"

"You don't have to do anything. You shouldn't have to be responsible for telling your mom something like that. Leave it with me and I'll try and talk to her. I don't want 'A' hurting either of you any more than necessary." Prue said, feeling very protective over her younger sister and her daughter.

Aria nodded. "Shall I go and see if mom found anything?" She asked, but was interrupted from doing so by her cell phone ringing in her pocket. Seeing that the message was from Ezra, Aria tried to hide a blush. "Actually, I need to go and meet a friend. Can you let mom know I'm with Hanna please?" She asked, knowing that Hanna would cover for her if it came to it.

"Sure. And leave this 'A' thing with me." Prue replied.

"Thanks. It was nice to finally meet you Aunt Prue. My mom really misses you."

"I know she does. I miss her too. I just wish I could come back more often. Hopefully I'll see you again soon." She smiled. "Now don't keep your friend waiting."

Aria hugged her aunt and left the attic, making her way downstairs and out to her car.

Meanwhile, Prue was left contemplating what to tell her sister. Telling Ella would break her heart and she couldn't exactly confront Byron about it but the texts on Aria's cell phone told her enough to know that 'A' could seriously hurt her whole family if whoever it was told people they were witches. Plus, she reasoned, as much as it sucked Ella would find out anyway. Surely it was best that she heard it from her sister than some stranger, right? Realising that she had made it to what she assumed was Ella's bedroom, considering it was the only one with the door shut and light shining from underneath, she knocked on the door.

"Come in." Ella called out to her. "Where's Aria?" She asked when Prue opened the door.

"She went to see Hanna. Did you find anything?" Prue asked gently, taking a seat next to Ella on her bed.

"A couple of ideas, but they would only work if we were near 'A'. Remember the truth spell and the spell to hear secret thoughts?"

"So you intend to go round everyone in Rosewood in 24 hours asking them if they are 'A'? Piper that's ridiculous."

"I know." Ella sighed. "If 'A' was a demon or a warlock we could at least try and scry for them but it's such a long shot it's not even worth trying."

"So what are you going to do?"

"Whatever it takes to keep Aria and her friends safe. If that means not going to Darryl then so be it." Ella said decidedly.

"What about when 'A' starts making demands?"

"Do you think they will?"

"Whoever it is has already started."

"What do you mean? How do you know that?"

"Sweetie..." Prue started and Ella immediately locked eyes with her. She'd know her sister for long enough now to know that something was up when she started like that.

"What is it? What have they said to Aria?" She asked frantically. When Prue didn't make a move to reply after a couple of seconds she raised her voice slightly. "Tell me." She said firmly. This was about her daughter and Prue knew not to mess with her when it came to Aria. She herself had been exactly the same when it came to protecting her and Phoebe.

"Aria's been keeping something from you." Prue started, hoping that something would happen to allow her to put off this painful conversation, but at the same time not wanting it to fall on her niece to tell her. Ella's expression turned from one of shock to one of pain in a split second and Prue knew she'd have to continue now that she'd started. "It wasn't her fault, she was just trying to protect you, but now 'A' is threatening to tell you themselves if she doesn't do it soon. I figured this sort of thing would be best coming from a sister."

"Prue just tell me." Ella said, close to tears in anticipation of whatever horrible secret her daughter had been carrying around with her and what she would undoubtedly rather not know.

"Last year, before you went away, Aria caught Byron kissing another woman, one of his students. When she told him what she saw he let slip that he'd been seeing her for a while." Prue told her sadly. Ella let out a cry of shock as she let the tears fall. On instinct, Prue moved closer and enveloped her little sister in a hug as her body shook with tears, both from the pain of Byron's betrayal and at the thought of what her daughter must've been living with this past year, especially recently with 'A's threats. "Honey I'm so sorry." She said as she gently rocked them back and forth in an attempt to sooth her distraught sister. In truth, nothing hurt Prue more than seeing one of her sisters in pain.


	8. Chapter 8

Neither sister knew how long they'd been sat there together when they heard the front door open.

"Ella I'm home." Byron called out. "And I brought Chinese." He said, placing the bag of takeaway food on the island in the kitchen.

Ella wiped the tears from her eyes and took a deep breath in an attempt to calm herself down before replying to him. "I'll be down in a minute." She said before turning to Prue. "You need to go."

"I know." Prue replied sadly. "I'm so sorry about this Piper. If you need to talk or just want me to freak him out or kick his ass for you I'm here." She assured her.

"Thanks." Ella said through her tears. She gave Prue one last hug before she disappeared, leaving lights in her place which vanished seconds later.

Sighing, Ella knew she'd have to face Byron and wasn't sure if she could do it with the knowledge she'd just gained. She took the Book of Shadows back up to the attic and blew out the candles before putting them away in the trunk where she'd found them earlier.

The short tasks did nothing to take her mind off Byron's betrayal. How could he do that to her and the kids? Did his wedding vows mean nothing anymore? After everything she'd been through Ella thought she'd finally found Mr Right with Byron.

They'd known each other in high school but had lost touch when they went to college. After Ella moved to Rosewood she found that he'd moved there too and they'd rekindled their relationship. She remembered the night he had said that he loved her. They'd just been to see a movie and were walking back through the park. Neither of them had taken their car as it had been snowing and they didn't want to risk driving on the slippery roads so Byron had offered to walk Ella home to keep her safe. She'd smiled at the gesture, making her feel warm inside despite knowing that she was probably better able to take care of herself than he was. They'd just been talking and Ella had slipped on a patch of ice but Byron managed to catch her before she fell and pulled her up. It was then that he'd told her he loved her, and to her the moment had been perfect. Of course, with her luck the night had to end with her vanquishing a low level demon that'd broken into her house. She should've known that was a bad sign.

She tried to comprehend how they'd managed to get from that moment to here. What had changed? She had known that something was up with Byron before they went to Iceland. Why didn't she trust her instincts? When had they ever led her wrong in the past? She felt sick to her stomach at the thought of her husband with another woman, even more so with the realisation that Aria had seen it happen. How could Byron even ask her daughter to lie about that to her for over a year?

Ella had so many questions that needed answers that she made a split-second decision. Grabbing the Book, she turned to the page that contained the truth spell.

"From now until it's now again." She muttered to herself. "I don't need that long." Grabbing a sheet of paper she took a minute to reword the spell so that it would only last an hour. It was by no means perfect but she hoped that it would work.

"Honey, can you make sure I locked my car please?" She shouted down to Byron, not wanting him to be in the house when she cast the spell. The last thing she needed was for him to have the effects of the spell and remember everything.

He didn't call back up to her but she knew he'd left when she heard the door slam. Quickly, she recited the spell aloud as she heard the grandfather clock that they kept in the front room chime seven.

"For those who want the truth revealed

Opened hearts and secrets unsealed

From now until the next hour

Then erase the memory by the Ancient Power

Those who now are in this house

Will hear the truth from other's mouths."

As soon as she'd finished reading the spell, the front door opened again.

"The car was fine. You know, I think you're starting to get a little paranoid." Byron told her.

Ella took a deep breath to prepare herself for what she was going to find out. After crying out all of her pain with Prue, she focused only on the anger she felt. She had cast the spell to get answers and that was what she was going to do. She wouldn't let him hurt her any more. She'd faced worse situations than this and survived. Marital problems should be a breeze compared to fighting demons, right?

She was halfway down the last set of stairs when she collapsed to the ground, letting her tears take over once again. Seeing Byron standing in front of her, dripping wet from the storm outside, after learning what he'd done made her heart feel like it was being ripped into a thousand pieces and there was nothing, no spell or potion that she knew, that could put it back together again.

"Ella honey, what's..." Byron started.

"Get away from me." She said dangerously, not allowing him to finish his question now that she'd cast the truth spell. "We need to talk."

"Ok." He said. "Do you want to go in to the living room?"

"Only if you won't be there." She replied before she could stop herself. She'd not forgotten the backfire to the spell she cast; personal gain rules could really make life difficult. "I'm sorry. Yes we should probably sit down."

They sat in silence for a while on the couch as Ella tried to decide where to start. The atmosphere was so tense around them that Byron could tell something was up with his wife. He opened his mouth to speak, never one to be comfortable sitting in silence, but Ella froze him before a word left his mouth.

"I just need a minute." She said as if to Byron, although she knew he couldn't hear her.

After taking a minute to gather her thoughts and composure, she unfroze her husband and started to talk immediately. She couldn't let him get the first word in or she'd never be able to confront him like she needed to.

"Did you have an affair with one of your students?" She asked bluntly.

"Yes." He replied, not that Ella was shocked because it wasn't as if he could lie. "I mean... no... sorry I don't know why I said that." He stuttered.

"Who was she?"

"Her name is Meredith. She was in my form class." Byron answered. "Wait, what's happening to me? Why am I telling you this?" He asked.

'_Crap!'_ Ella thought to herself, knowing she had no choice but to answer him. "I cast a truth spell."

"A truth spell?"

"I'm a witch. That's not important right now." She said, knowing that the spell would wear off soon. She'd overestimated her ability to stay in control of her emotions earlier, not that she could blame herself after everything she'd found out. Why couldn't she have been stronger? Prue would have been able to face him. She was always the strongest.

Ella sighed, knowing that didn't have as much time as she'd hoped. Cursing silently to herself, she decided to carry on before her hour was up.

"How long has this been going on?" She asked, her voice growing higher with every question and the pain of hearing the answers.

"About four months before we moved to Iceland. How can you be a witch? How is that even possible?" Byron questioned, his mind still reeling from that fact that he'd barely noticed he'd answered her question.

"It was passed down from my mother." She told him before she could stop herself. "I'll tell you more about it later just stop asking me questions now." She told him, glad that she was able to tell that small lie. As long as she could stall him from asking about it long enough so that she could get the answers she needed it didn't matter. It wasn't as if he'd remember anyway. "How could you ask Aria to lie to me about this for so long?" Ella asked, not bothering try and to stop the freely flowing tears streaming down her cheeks as her eyes fell on a photo of the two of them together in Iceland.

"Because I didn't want to lose you." He shouted, his eyes also starting to gloss over with tears. Ella could tell he was about as overwhelmed and frustrated as she was and, despite all he'd done to her, she hated seeing him in pain. He was normally so good at holding himself together. Any other time Ella knew that he would fight back but under the influence of her spell he had no choice but to tell her the truth, giving Ella no choice but to believe him. The fact that he still wanted to be with her after everything they'd both learnt was a curve ball she hadn't been expecting. If he was happy in their marriage he wouldn't cheat but if he wasn't happy then why didn't he want to lose her?

They both heard the clock start chiming and Ella knew the spell had worn off.

Byron turned to face her. "Ella, what's wrong?" He asked, noticing her tear-stained cheeks.

"I can't Byron... I just can't. Not now." She cried, finally letting go of the emotions she'd been struggling so hard to hold in until her spell had worn off. Knowing she couldn't face having the conversation again with Byron she stormed out of the house and got in to her car for the relative privacy and shelter from the rain. "Leo!" She called out.

Leo had orbed in to the car next to her before she'd even had a chance to turn around and she jumped slightly when she found herself face to face with him.

"Piper, what's wrong?" He asked.

"I need you to orb me to Phoebe's." Ella told him through her tears.

"Has something happened?"

"I just really need my sister right now, ok? Please Leo." She pleaded. Reluctantly, Leo gave in and they soon found themselves in Phoebe's New York apartment.

Meanwhile, Aria had been spending the evening with Ezra watching an old movie at his apartment. Over the past few weeks their relationship had grown to the point where, if she could, Aria would've updated her Facebook status to 'in a relationship'. Being with Ezra was like nothing she'd ever experienced. Every guy she'd dated before now had been immature and paid little or no attention to her interests but in Ezra she found someone to share her passions with, someone who understood how she thought movies were better in black and white and how she'd much rather pick up a pen or a book than a CD. When she was with him, Aria all but forgot about 'A' and the fact that she was a witch. She forgot that he was her teacher and that she was a fair few years younger than him because he treated her like an equal, like an adult. He made her feel special in a way she hadn't felt before around any other guy.

"Are you staying for dinner?" Ezra asked, turning the volume down slightly on the television. "I was thinking of ordering a take out."

"Sounds good." Aria smiled, although her heart wasn't in it. She was worried about her mom. Had aunt Prue told her about her dad's affair? Was she ok? Had 'A' been in contact again? She wasn't sure quite why she felt this way but her instincts were telling her that something was up, she just didn't know what.

"Great, what do you fancy? Pizza?" He suggested. Aria nodded and Ezra went to fetch the menu. When he returned he noticed the distant look in Aria's eyes. She wasn't even watching the film; her mind seemed to be somewhere else entirely. "Is everything ok, Aria?"

"What?" She asked, snapping out of her thoughts. "Oh, yeah I'm fine." She assured him.

"If you're sure." Ezra commented, even though he wasn't convinced. After ordering the pizza, Ezra made the decision not to push the subject any further, however, and instead tried to take Aria's mind off of whatever was bothering her.

He leaned in to kiss her, gently at first. Slowly, he pulled her closer to him and stroked his free hand through her long hair. At Aria's cue, he deepened the kiss and soon he found himself on top of her on the couch. Aria started to push him away and, not wanting to force her into anything, Ezra complied. He was surprised, however, when she got up and led him to the bed.

A while later found Aria and Ezra lying side by side, out of breath, on his bed, Ezra leaned over and gave Aria a kiss, wrapping his arm around her naked waist. For both of them, the moment was perfect. It had been everything Aria had dreamed and more. She wasn't sure she'd be able to keep the smile off of her face when she had to sit though his class the next day.

Their perfect moment was soon interrupted by a knock at the door.

"That must be the pizza. I'll get it." Aria smiled, pulling on Ezra's shirt as she got up from the bed.

She made her way over to the door with her purse and opened it, only to find that it wasn't the delivery guy. Instead, Aria found herself face to face with Leo.


	9. Chapter 9

"Leo!" Aria exclaimed. "What are you doing here? How did you even know where I was?" She said, hiding slightly behind the door in hope that he wouldn't see how little she was wearing.

"I sensed you and came to see if you were alright. I've just had to drop your mom off at Phoebe's and she seemed pretty upset."

"I'm fine. What happened to her?"

"Aria, who is it?" Ezra called out, wondering what was taking so long. He pulled on a pair of pants and walked to the front door.

"He's a friend of my mom's." She told Ezra, before turning back to Leo. "What happened?" She repeated.

"I don't know, she just called me from her car and I took her straight to Phoebe's."

"Look, Leo, you really need to go." Aria panicked, not wanting Leo to be around Ezra any more than necessary. She was already sure he'd tell her mom unless she found a way to talk to him about it first. Besides, he'd told her last week that anything between a Whitelighter and their charge was confidential, right? So he wouldn't tell her mom, would he? "I'll call mom and see if she's ok." She said, trying to usher him out the door.

Leo gave her a look that said clearly that he knew she was hiding something. The guy she was with seemed a fair few years older than her, he thought, and he was sure he'd seen him when he visited Ella at work last week to let her know how Paige was progressing with her powers. "Excuse me, could you give us a moment?" He asked Ezra as he took a step outside the apartment. "We need to talk." He whispered to Aria once Ezra had turned his back.

"Later." Aria promised. There was no way she was having this conversation now, in front of Ezra.

"Normally I wouldn't interfere with what a charge gets up to in their free time but you know me and your mom have a history and I can't keep things from her about you."

"Don't tell mom yet. Just give us some time, please?" Aria pleaded.

"Ok but I still want to talk to you about this." Leo warned, feeling more protective over the young girl than most of his other charges. He knew he shouldn't but he couldn't seem to help himself. She was Piper's daughter. There was no way he couldn't feel differently before her when he still had such strong feelings for her mother and such love for their family.

He left without another word, taking a couple of steps away from the door so that he was sure he was out of Ezra's sight and orbing away.

"So who exactly was that?" Ezra asked once Aria has closed the door.

"It's complicated." Aria replied. "What if he tells my mom about us?"

"Do you think he will?"

"I don't know." She said. "He shouldn't say anything until after I've spoken to him about it, I just don't know if I can stop him."

"Well that's tomorrow's problem then." Ezra decided. "Now shall we put another film on?"

"I should probably call mom and make sure she's alright. My aunt must've told her about dad's affair." Ezra nodded and went back to his bedroom, giving Aria some privacy. Aria dialled her mom's number and waiting until it went to voicemail. Figuring she probably wasn't picking up because she was with Phoebe, Aria hung up the phone. She didn't want to accidently say anything on a voicemail message about her dad in case Prue hadn't told her.

"_I have a job for you." The man in the black cloak snarled."I want you to kill the Charmed ones."_

"_The Charmed ones?" The other demon asked. "They don't exist anymore. Not after I killed the oldest witch."_

"_It appears they've been... reconstituted."_

"_How?"_

"_There was another sister, one not even the Elders knew about. I want you to kill her before she gets too powerful and then go after her sisters. The Charmed ones must be destroyed!" The cloaked man yelled._

Phoebe leaned back from hugging her sister and gasped, her face pale as she looked close to tears.

"What is it? What did you see?" Ella asked.

"Shax."

"Shax?"

"The Source has sent him after Paige. He knows the power of three is back."

"We need to get her and make sure she's safe." Ella decided, trying to keep a brave face despite the fact that the demon that killed her older sister was after them. If she let herself feel anything but hatred right now she knew she'd break down and wouldn't be able to vanquish him.

"I'll ask Leo to bring her here." Phoebe agreed. "That way when he comes we've got the power of three on our side. Hopefully we'll have a chance to say the spell and vanquish him for good this time."

"I can't stay away from the kids until he comes." Ella protested.

"But, honey, you don't want to put them in danger by leading him to the house. Plus it will give you a couple of days before you have to see Byron again."

At the mention of Byron's name, Ella felt herself about to break down again. How had such a lovely afternoon seeing her sister again turned so sour? Just thinking of him made her heart feel like it was being ripped to pieces over and over again.

"I can't stay here now. I need to get back, if not just to confront Byron about what he did. I feel like all I was doing was bottling it up, even when I was talking to him."

"And now you feel like you just want to go and yell at him and blow him up." Phoebe finished for her.

"Don't tempt me." Ella replied. "I need to try and figure out where we stand for Aria and Mike's sake."

"What about Shax?"

"As long as Paige stays with you there's a chance of wounding him with the spell. Then you can orb to me and we'll go from there. Right now I just can't be away from home, especially with the Source sending out assassins again. What if he sends someone to attack my kids while I'm here with you and Paige?"

"I suppose you're right. Unless we come and stay with you? Your house is plenty big enough and we'll have the additional power of the Nexus."

"The Nexus?" Ella asked.

"You didn't know? Your house is built on another Nexus. Come and look." Phoebe instructed, drawing up a map of Rosewood on her computer. She showed Ella the five points of the pentagram: water, fire, wood, earth and metal, all equidistant from her house. "I assumed that's why you chose the house." She commented.

"No, I had no idea we were living on top of a Nexus."

"Well, I guess everything happens for a reason. Maybe this is it. Maybe we need the Nexus now we have to defeat the Source and without the manor, this must be the universe's way of giving us the power we need."

"Ah crap." Ella commented. She didn't have time to voice her annoyance of how magic always seemed to find her, despite her wishes for a normal life, when her cell phone rang. She fished it out of her bag and noticed a missed call from Aria and a message from 'Unknown'. Deciding she'd call Aria later, if it was desperate Leo would've let them know, she opened the message.

_More power? I think your sisters should come and live with you for a while if you want your daughter to reach her senior year. Kisses. –A_

Ella let out a gasp as she read the text. 'A' was sending death threats now? There was no way she'd risk Aria's life for the sake of keeping her secret from Byron and Mike. She knew, if it came to it, they'd be able to protect everyone from Shax with four Warren witches in the house. Trying desperately to school her features so that Phoebe wouldn't ask about the message, Ella choked back the sob of fear that was brewing inside her.

Unfortunately for her, Phoebe had grown up with her and could tell in an instant that something was worrying her. Not that it was a surprise that her older sister was worried about something, but Phoebe could tell that this was something more.

"Piper, what is it? Let me see." She said, gesturing towards her cell phone.

Ella shook her head, letting the tears fall from her eyes. "I can't." She whispered.

"Don't make me cast a truth spell on you, missy." She tried to joke, hoping to at least get a laugh out of her sister and cheer her up a bit. When she received no reaction, Phoebe's expression grew serious. Something must be really bad if she didn't get a smile or even a reprimand from her sister for her comment. "Come on, honey, let me help you."

Reluctantly, Ella handed her phone over. Phoebe gasped as she read the message. "Who would say something like that? Do you know who it's from?" Ella shook her head.

"Aria and her friends have been getting messages too. Whoever it is knows secrets about us we don't want getting out and now they're threatening to kill my daughter. I can't... I just can't..." She cried.

"I know, sweetie."Phoebe said, pulling her sister into another hug.

"You can't tell anyone. I don't know what will happen now I've told you but I can't risk anyone else knowing."

"Of course not. I'll call Paige and ask her to orb over here and take us all back to your place. We don't want to give this 'A' any more reason to hurt you and Aria."

Ella nodded silently in agreement and Phoebe went in to the next room to phone Paige. Just then, Ella received another text.

_I thought two could keep a secret if one of them was Charmed. I guess not. Now I'll tell you this. You ex-husband and your daughter now have another secret. I think you're going to want to find this one out soon, don't you? – A _

What are Aria and Leo hiding? Ella asked herself, before quickly shaking herself out of it. She wouldn't go down that road. She wasn't rising to the bait this time. 'A' wanted a reaction and they wanted to tear her family apart but she wasn't going to let that happen. She'd fought demons and warlocks for half of her life, she could handle a couple of texts. Deciding to put her phone away and push it out of her mind before Phoebe finished talking to Paige, she took a couple of deep breaths to calm herself down. It was starting to work until she heard the smoke alarm go off. Panicking, she put up her hands and managed to smash her glass, spilling red wine onto Phoebe's clean cream carpet.

"Shit!" Phoebe yelled from her bedroom. "I forgot about dinner." She said, running to the kitchen and pulling out something that looked like it was once a pizza but now seemed to have been cremated. While Phoebe put the burnt pizza in the trash, Ella froze the smoke alarm and set about opening up the windows without the constant ringing in her ears.

Phoebe walked back into the living room while Ella was opening the last of the windows. "I'm sorry about your carpet." She told her as they sat back on the couch, being careful of the broken glass surrounding the wine stain. "I'll pay for it to be cleaned." She offered.

"Don't worry about it. Do you really think me of all people could keep this carpet so clean without a little help?" Phoebe asked. "Let the object of objection become but a dream as I cause the seen to be unseen." She recited and instantly the stain and the smashed glass were gone.

"Personal gain." Ella commented.

"One little spell, I think they owe us that much. Besides, I've never had a problem with it before. Now I need to pack some stuff to take to yours." She said. "Will you be ok?"

"I'll be fine, I should probably call Aria back and let Byron know you guys are staying."

"Oh yeah, Byron." Phoebe said, as though the name disgusted her. "What are you going to do about him?"

"We'll talk once this has calmed down. He doesn't need to know that I know yet. Besides, I want to see if he's still seeing her before I decide where we'll go from here." She said rationally, although she wasn't sure how long she'd stay that way.

"Ok, well I'll just be in the next room." Phoebe said.

"I'm not a child, Phoebe. I'll be ok. Just be quick so you're ready when Paige gets here."

With that, Phoebe made her way to her room to pack some clothes and other essentials. She wasn't sure how long they'd be staying together but knew it would be at least until Shax attacked, which could be the next day, next week, or next month for all she knew.

Meanwhile, Ella was waiting for Aria to pick up her cell phone.

"_Hi mom, is everything ok?"_ She asked.

"Define 'ok'." Ella muttered. "Prue told me what you told her this afternoon." She said.

"_I'm so sorry, mom. I didn't know what to do. I didn't want to hurt you and dad told me to keep it a secret but then 'A'..."_

"Aria, sweetie, I'm not mad at you. I'm hurt and want to turn your father into a toad but I don't blame you or Prue for any of this. I actually wanted to tell you about something else, are you alone?"

"_No, I'm with Emily."_ She lied.

"Emily? I thought Prue said you were with Hanna."

"_Emily's here too."_ Aria said, thinking on the spot. She hoped that her mom couldn't tell she was lying like she usually could.

"Ok well I need you to come home soon. Something happened and your aunts are staying with us for a while."

"_What happened? Is everyone ok?"_

"We're fine. I'll explain when we get home."

"_Ok. Bye mom." _Aria said, before hanging up. She turned to Ezra. "I have to go, I'm sorry."

"It's ok, it sounded important." He replied, understandingly. Aria panicked for a moment, realising that Ezra had been able to hear what her mom has said. She thought back, trying to think of anything that could expose them but couldn't think of anything explicit.

"Yeah, I don't want my mom turning me into a toad as well." She joked, laughing off the only witch-related thing in the conversation. "Bye." She said, giving Ezra a kiss and letting herself out.


	10. Chapter 10

Aria arrived home a mere fifteen minutes before her mom and aunts orbed into the back yard. She was still shocked that they could travel all the way from New York to Rosewood in a matter of seconds. Her mom had told her that Paige was learning the craft very quickly and mastered orbing after only a week.

Ella let herself and her sisters in through the front door, so as not to arise suspicion as to how they got there. It wasn't as if they could orb straight into the house, especially if Byron or Mike were there. Paige hadn't been able to master sensing before she orbed so was settling for orbing in to secluded places just in case someone was there. That said, Paige was progressing well with her witch powers and her staying under the same roof as her sisters could only help matters.

"Hi mom." Aria greeted when Ella came in to her daughter's room.

"Hi sweetie." Ella smiled back. "How was it at Hanna's?"

"Good. We were just going over the calculus assignment." She lied. "What was it you needed to tell me?"

"Your aunts are staying here for a while."

"You could've told me that over the phone." Aria pointed out.

"But I couldn't tell you why. Phoebe had a premonition." Ella said solemnly. Aria could tell immediately by the tone of her mother's voice that it was worse than her normal premonitions. She stayed silent, allowing Ella to explain. "The Source has sent one of his assassins to kill Paige. He's the same demon that killed Prue."

"What?" Aria exclaimed.

"I know it's difficult to understand this Aria but I just wanted you to be aware. He could come for her at any time and only the power of three can vanquish him. Phoebe and Paige are in the attic checking for the spell as we speak."

"What are we going to do if he shows up?"

"You're not going to do anything. You're too young to be fighting these battles so call Leo or Paige and they'll orb you out of danger."

"I can't run away forever." Aria protested, as much as she was screaming with fear inside she knew these demons would come after her too and wanted to be able to stand a chance against them. So far she hadn't been taught much more than how to make a few potions and master her telekinesis power. Although she had been able to sneak in to the attic a couple of times and was reading up on some of the demons in there. She'd read as far as _B_ for Belthazor and noticed that her aunt Phoebe had added some personal information about him. She was starting to notice a pattern with her family having forbidden romances.

"I don't expect you to but for now let us handle the Source and Shax. They are way too powerful for you to vanquish on your own. We're not even sure how to vanquish the Source even with the power of three. I will give you the spell to vanquish Shax though. You won't kill him but if you need to it will hopefully wound him enough until we can orb to you."

As if on cue, Phoebe and Paige rushed through the door.

"We've found the spell." Paige said, handing Ella the sheet of paper they'd written it on.

"Great. I'll just copy it out for Aria. That way she can fight him off if he attacks."

"Will it even work without the power of three?" Paige asked.

"I was able to wound him last time when he hurt Piper and Prue. He went away but I didn't vanquish him." Phoebe recalled.

"And I'm hoping Aria will be able to do quite a bit of damage. Remember our powers grow stronger with each generation." Ella pointed out.

"Good point." Phoebe agreed. "Now when can I have some of my sister's amazing home cooked food I've been promised?" She asked and everyone followed her to the kitchen. Ella set to work making a nice meal for the whole family to enjoy, hoping to win Byron and Mike over to the idea of her sisters staying with a nice treat. Plus she loved to cook and it was a welcome distraction from everything else going on in her life. She knew she'd have to talk to Byron eventually about what she'd found out but she was honestly trying to postpone it for as long as possible. Besides, she wanted to keep the marital drama to a minimum around her kids, and even more so now Phoebe and Paige were in town. It wasn't as if Phoebe wasn't used to it though with all the problems she'd had with Leo. _That was different though_, she reasoned, _Leo would never cheat._ Pushing thoughts of both Byron and Leo to the back of her mind, she focussed on what she was cooking while Phoebe and Paige were gossiping o the couch. She couldn't hear Aria and assumed she'd just gone upstairs to do homework.

Meanwhile, Aria was lying on her bed reading when Leo orbed in.

"Is now a good time?" He asked when he noticed the worried look in Aria's eyes. For once she wasn't worried about what 'A' would say but this tie what Leo would say to her and her mom.

Closing her book, Aria sat up on her bed and Leo took a seat next to her.

"Look I know what you're going to say but you don't understand." She started before Leo cut her off.

"No I actually understand better than you think." He interrupted her. "But you do have to tell your mom."

"I can't. She'll go insane and Ezra will end up in prison or turned into a toad or something."

"With your mom it's more likely to be a rat." Leo laughed. "But what I actually came here to say is that she may understand better than you think. When your mom and I got together it was unheard of for Whitelighters to have relationships with their charges, let alone marry them. If anyone understands forbidden love it's her. And before me she was engaged to a warlock named Jeremy and fell in love with a ghost called Mark. I'm sure she'll cut you some slack."

"If she doesn't blow him up first."

"She won't do that."

"Phoebe told me she blew you up."

"That's different. I'm already dead." Leo pointed out, not wanting to get into their relationship problems with his ex-wife's daughter. "She's got a temper but she won't do anything rash, especially not with someone else around when you tell her. Just think about it." He pleaded.

Aria sighed. "Ok." She said, admitting defeat.

"And don't wait too long or I will have to say something. Neither of you are normal charges and the same rules can't always apply when it comes to you." He warned, knowing full well Ella would blow him up if she knew he'd even thought about keeping this a secret from her for a second. He wanted to give Aria a chance though; it was going to be hard for both of them. Although he shouldn't have been listening, he knew that she was going through a rough patch in her marriage and with her sisters and didn't want to add any extra stress to her life. Leo glanced up to the ceiling as if he was hearing something which Aria could not. "I've got to go and help another charge. See you later." He said before orbing out.

Aria knew she'd have to tell her mom about Ezra now, if she didn't already know. Who knew what 'A' had already told her? What if her mom had some other secret that 'A' was holding over her as well? Apparently she was very good at keeping them, having kept the witch secret from Aria her entire life.

Bringing her thoughts back around, Aria tried to figure out how she was going to tell her mom about Ezra and stop herself from getting paranoid about her keeping some other dark secret. For all she knew that was what 'A' wanted: to keep everyone paranoid and break them apart. How was she going to explain to Ezra why she was going to tell her mom and potentially ruin both of their lives? There was no way she could go about this without hurting someone, if not everyone she loved. Although she knew that her mom had been in a similar situation there was no way she would take the news calmly. Aria was sure that if she was angry enough she'd have the power to blow up the entire house if she didn't keep it under control which is why she knew she had to have someone else there too, someone who she couldn't show magic to. She'd have to tell her dad as well.

Thinking about him made Aria remember what she'd asked Prue to tell her mom about. She knew that must've been why she was at Phoebe's and why she was upset, unless that was all to do with Phoebe's premonition. Wow her mom really was going through a lot right now. Aria was starting to consider backing out and not telling her when she received a phone call from Ezra.

"_Hey Aria is everything ok?"_ The voice on the other line said when she picked up.

"Ok? Yes, why wouldn't it be?" Aria panicked.

"_That man who was here earlier said he was going to talk to you about... about us. How did it go?" _He asked.

"He told me I need to tell my parents." She replied. Technically Leo had only told her to tell Ella but she didn't want to explain why she had to have her dad there as well.

"_Then I want to be there when you do it."_ He said.

"What? No, Ezra you can't be here. They'll be mad enough as it is."

"_I'm not letting you tell them alone, Aria. Please don't argue with me on this. Let me be there for you, for support."_

Knowing he wouldn't back down, Aria agreed to let him come. She knew he was just being protective but he didn't know what he could be getting in to when he came to this house, especially now her aunts were here too. Aria knew she'd have to get them out of the house before she told her mom. It was a private matter and, although she hadn't known them long, she knew they'd take her mom's side on this and there would be no way she could talk all three of them round.

She had arranged with Ezra to come over after dinner so that they could get it over with. After hanging up the phone she went downstairs to help her mom in the kitchen, hoping to soften her up a bit before she told her.

Once Byron returned home from work and Mike was back from practice they all sat down together to eat.

"Thanks for letting us stay for a while." Paige said to Byron as she put some more salad on her plate. She'd only met him once and still wanted to make a good impression on her new found family.

"Yeah thanks." Phoebe agreed. "After the fire in my apartment I needed a place to stay and we thought what better way for Paige to get to know her knew family than to stay with them all." Ella tried to resist the urge to chuckle at their cover story. Phoebe definitely had the ability to exaggerate what had happened and make it sound true. How she'd been able to lie so easily and turn a burnt pizza into a big fire made her smile. There was the good old Phoebe she'd grown to love growing up.

"It's no problem. We already have the extra rooms." He replied.

"I'm just sorry about the mess." Ella said, referring to the few boxes scattered around the house that were still to be unpacked. With all the marking and lesson plans that she and Byron had to do, plus spending every spare minute teaching Aria the craft, she had been left very little time to finish unpacking from their trip to Iceland.

"You know we make our fair share of mess living together." Phoebe joked, referring to all the demons they'd had to vanquish in the manor. Byron paled slightly at the thought but Ella tried to brush off Phoebe's comment.

"I'm sure it won't be like that now. Besides, it was always you and Prue that did the fighting. It was a shame sometimes that I couldn't just freeze you both until you calmed down." Ella said and Phoebe laughed, knowing that the comment had gone straight over Byron and Mike's heads. They'd both missed this connection they had and just wished it didn't have to come hand in hand with a new demonic threat. Even though Paige was still new to the family, she didn't need a premonition to be able to tell they'd one day be as close to her as they were to Prue. Thinking of her older sister gave her the idea to conjure her at some point so that Paige could finally meet her.

Dinner went by surprisingly free of drama. She knew Byron wasn't very happy about having her sister stay with them but he was too polite and too concerned with keeping up appearances to argue. Besides that, Ella was getting some small pleasure in the little things that annoy him even though they could never amount to the hurt he'd caused her.

There was the odd comment from her sisters and herself that anyone in the know would be able to tell was a joke about their wiccan lives but no one said anything outright. They all knew they'd have to talk about Shax properly later and come up with a plan to vanquish the Source once and for all but it would have to wait. Ella wasn't in the mood to freeze the room and discuss it casually over dinner with the other witches. Besides, it wasn't something she wanted Aria to be involved in any more than she had to.

"You know, there's a function at Hollace next week that staff and students are all invited to." Byron mentioned to Ella while they were clearing up the dishes in the kitchen. "We should go."

"Yeah, that sounds nice." Ella replied, biting her tongue to stop herself from saying what she really thought. She knew in all likelihood the girl he was having an affair with would be there too and Ella wasn't sure if she could face that. Suddenly tired of the menial task of cleaning up, she suggested that Byron left her to do it alone so she could have a little magical help. If Phoebe could do it, why shouldn't she?

Once she was sure that no one could see her, she chanted the spell from memory. "Let the object of objection become but a dream as I cause the seen to be unseen." Seconds later everything was washed up and back in its rightful place. Ella took a seat at the counter and took a minute to get her head around everything that had happened that evening. She couldn't believe that it was barely five hours ago that she'd summoned Prue. The day had seemed so amazing then from the second she said the spell and her sister appeared in front of her. Now everything was different. Her marriage was falling apart, there was a direct and certain threat on her youngest sister's life and Leo and Aria were hiding something from her. That is, if 'A' was telling the truth. But then again, when had 'A' been wrong about anything?

At Aria's suggestion, Phoebe and Paige had gone out to explore the little that Rosewood had to offer, leaving her alone with her family. To an onlooker it would look like nothing other than a normal day for the Montgomery family but it had been anything but that. If anything else went wrong today she didn't know if she could handle it. How was any of this fair? She silently cursed the Elders, as if this was their fault. Everything else in her life seemed to be their fault: her problems with Leo, becoming witches and therefore Prue dying. She was sure if she tried hard enough she could find a way to blame them for just about everything but she knew that would be the opposite of productive and she couldn't afford to waste time wallowing in self-pity.

Hearing the doorbell ring, Ella got up to answer it. She figured that enough time had passed to explain how the kitchen was clean. She couldn't tell Byron or Mike and didn't want Aria to know she was using magic for personal gain. What sort of example would that set for her?

She reached the front door and opened it, expecting to see her sisters but found herself face to face with none other than her colleague, Ezra Fitz.


End file.
